The glorious banality of football, its twists and turns and its moments of sudden redemption: how we had missed it. For 90 minutes these two teams scrapped and scarped their way with no little effort to what looked like an entirely forgettable goal-less draw.
Then, in four minutes, they conjured a dramatic finale with goals of stunning quality, a moment of apparent devastation before an unexpected comeback. Wholly unscripted, somehow football still writes the best storylines.
Ben Chilwell had endured a difficult afternoon, constantly challenged by Ismaila Sarr, perhaps the £75m price tag ventured for a move to Chelsea weighing heavily.